Women's Golf

Tech wins OVC team Sportsmanship Award in women's golf

May 13, 2010

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- For the third time in four years, Tennessee
Tech Golden Eagles have won the Ohio Valley Conference Team
Sportsmanship Award in women's golf. The awards were announced
Thursday by the conference office, with Morehead State earning the
honor in men's golf.

Voted on by the student-athletes and coaches of the respective
sports, the team awards are bestowed upon the Conference squads
deemed to have best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and
ethical behavior as outlined by the OVC and NCAA. Included in the
areas for evaluation are the conduct of student-athletes, coaches,
staff and administrators and fans.

“Without sportsmanship there are truly no meaningful
victories,” said Beth DeBauche, OVC Commissioner. “The
recipients of the OVC Team Sportsmanship awards should accept this
award with great pride for their fellow competitors have made it
clear their teams exemplify the best in intercollegiate athletics.
In receiving this prestigious honor other competitors are saying
these student-athletes compete with class, respect their opponents
and value fair play. That is quite a compliment as those are all
traits that will lead to true victories throughout the course of
life.”

The 2009-10 school year marks the fifth year the team
sportsmanship honors have been awarded. It marks the second award
for the Morehead State men’s team (they shared the inaugural
award in 2005-06) and the third award for the Tennessee Tech
women’s program (who also won awards in 2006-07 and 2007-08).

“Thank you to all the teams that voted for us,” said
Tennessee Tech head coach Brandy Stout. “We are very honored
to be accepting this award. However, this is more than just an
award to these young women and myself. Tech women's golf has been
well known for receiving this particular award in the past and
that's not only something to be proud of, it's also something I
hope to continue year after year. I am extremely proud of them
all."

Morehead State finished second overall at the 2010 OVC
Men’s Golf Championship, the Eagles best performance since
winning the event in 1999. MSU had three total golfers in the top
10, led by Crit Reddick’s fifth place finish that earned him
All-Tournament team honors.

"I think it is a high honor to be recognized not only as a good
collegiate golf team, but as good students and especially good
sports,” said Morehead State head coach Rex Chaney. “We
are thrilled to earn this award.”

Implemented in August 2005, the team honors are the most recent
addition to an awards program that recognizes and celebrates
sportsmanship within the Conference. In 1998, the league
established the Steve Hamilton Sportsmanship Award, presented
annually to a male or female student-athlete of junior or senior
status who best exemplifies the characteristics of the late
Morehead State student-athlete, coach and administrator. Five years
later, the Conference added the OVC Sportsmanship Award, presented
annually to the member institution selected by its peers to have
best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and ethical behavior
as outlined by the OVC and NCAA.

In 1995, the Ohio Valley Conference implemented a
first-of-its-kind “Sportsmanship Statement,” a policy
promoting principles of fair play, ethical conduct and respect for
one’s opponent. The statement answered the challenge of
the NCAA Presidents Commission to improve sportsmanship in
collegiate athletics, and has become a model for others to follow
across the nation.